Rotary pulverizer.



A. J. PLOWMAN.

ROTARY PULVER-IZER. APPLICATION FILED JAN.6,1911.

1,017,901. Patented Feb. 20, 191-2.

Inventor? ALVA. J. PLOWMAN, OF OCEAN PARK, CALIFORNIA.

ROTARY PULVERIZER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 6, 1911.

Patented Feb. 20, 1912.

Serial No. 601,068. Y

To all whom it may concern: 1

Be it lmown that I, ALVA J. PLOWMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ocean Park, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Rotary Pulverizers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in rotary mills or pulyerizers and particularly to that class of such devices as are intended for crushing and pulverizing ores of various kinds.

It is an object of the invention to provide a simple rotary pulverizer in which the ore may be caused to grind and impinge upon itself for breaking up its substance.

It is also an object of the invention to pro vide rotating ore containing members, between which the ore is fed so that different portions of the ore being carried in opposite directions will grind upon other portions thereof for reducing the same.

In the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved rotary mill or pulverizer, a portion thereof being broken away and shown in central section to reveal the interior construction of the device. Fig. 2 is a detail fragmentary view showing one way of segregating the inner surface of the ore carrying members.

In the accompanying illustration the preferred form of the pulverizer or mill has been shown and the invent-ion will now be more particularly described, reference being had to the said illustration.

In the drawing 1 indicates a frame, 2 an upper rotating member and 3' a lower'rotating member. The rotating members 2 and 3 are preferably conical in form and have their open, wide ends applied to each other, their outer ends being provided with hollow shaft extensions as at 4c and 5 respectively. These shaft extensions may be cast integrally with the said conical members or may be otherwise secured thereto as preferred.

The shaft extensions engage bearings at 6, I

7, 8 and 9 in crossbars of the frame 1 as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1 so that each of the members 2 and 3 may rotate within the frame. The hollow shaft extension 4 is provided with a pulley 10 which may be driven by any suitable belting 11 for rotating the member 2. The hollow shaft 5 is also provided with a driving pulley 12 adapted to receive a belt 13 by which the member 3 may be rotated. The lower end of the hollow shaft 5 is provided with an end bearing '14 which may be provided with anti-friction balls 15, and is adapted to support the weight of the lower member and the shaft 5 together wit-h the weight of material placed within the mill.

The inner surface of the members 2 and 3 are preferably corrugated or provided with spirally arranged grooves 16 and 17 respectively, which assist in carrying the ore around with the revolving members 2 and 3 .and prevent the ore from having a grinding action upon the inner faces thereof, when the mill is in operation. The said corrugations may be arranged so close together as to form grooves over the entire inner surface of the members 2 and 3 as shown at 18 in Fig. 2. The material to be operated upon by the mill is usually fed into the same through the upper hollow shaft 4, any suitable hopper as 19 being provided at the upper end of the said shaft for this purpose.

The lower shaft 5 is usually closed at its" upper end by means of a plate 20, or in any other desiredv manner. This will prevent material from falling into the lower shaft when the members 2 and 3 are not rotating or are either being started or stopped. At other times the centrifugal force of the material in the rapidly rotating members 2 and 3 will keep the ore out near the meeting edges of said members.

The meeting edges of the rotating members 2 and 3 are preferably provided with annular plates 21 and 22 respectively which are usually secured to said rotating members by means of screws or bolts 23. The outer portions of said annular plates are formed \0 provide run-ways 24 and 25 for anti-fri tion balls 26 which are mounted between the plates. A very slight space. is left between the inner portions 'of the said plates 21 and 22 so that finely ground and pulverized ore may escape through and around the balls 26 in being thrown from the mill. The said balls 26 also assist in pulverizing the ore which passes through the runway.

The pulp or finely ground material is caught by an outer casing formed of upper and lower approximately conical housings 27 and 28. These are secured together by passing bolts through meeting flanges 29 formed upon the said housings. The pulp collecting casing thus provided is rigidly mounted in the framing 1 of the mill by means of braces 29*.

The upper housing 27 of the casing is located very close to the surface of the revolving member 2, while the lower portion of the housing 28 is formed with a discharge opening as at 30, through which the material or pulp can be discharged from the mill.

The pulp from the housing 28 is preferably caught in an annular trough 31 which surrounds the discharge opening 30 and projects to some distance each side thereof. The inner edge of the said trough 31 fits quite closely against the under surface of the member 3 but the said member of course moves with respect thereto. The said trough 31 is secured to cross bars of the framing 1. The trough 31 is provided with any suitable outlet or exit spout as at 32 through which the materials may be discharged. In order to prevent the piling up and undue collection of the pulp in the said trough 31, a brush 33 or a similar device is rigidly secured to the rotating member 3. As shown in the drawing the said brush 33 is attached to the member 3 by means of a bolt as 34. As the brush 33 is carried around with the said member 3 it will move the pulp toward the spout 32 and insure its being discharged from the machine.

In using the apparatus the ore to be pulverized is introduced from the hopper 19 through the hollow shaft 4. The upper and lower rotating cone members 2 and 3 are rotated, preferably at a rapid rate of speed, and in opposite directions to each other as indicated by the arrows upon the pulleys 10 and 12. The centrifugal force will carry the ore outwardly into the peripheral portions of the said revolving cones 2 and 3 and the ore will be ground upon itself until it is finely pulverized. The finely pulverized pulp will make its way between the opposing faces of the plates 21 and 22 and thence around the balls 25 and escape into the easing made up of the housings 27 and 28. The direction of the spiral corrugations or grooves 16, 17 or 18 is such that the ore will work its way longitudinally down the said corrugations or grooves toward the peripheral portions of the cones 2 and 3 and not tend to slide over the surface of the said cones transversely of the grooves to such an extent as to wear or cut out the same. The apparatus as above described is useful either in treating ore in a wet or dry condition and is found to produce a very even and finely comminuted pulp.

The balls interposed between the peripheral plates 21 and 22 not only insure the maintaining of a proper space between said members entirely around the edges of the cones 2 and 3 but also contribute to a proper holding of the said cones in perfect alinement with each other. This is important since the weight of the ore may be unevenly distributed in the peripheries of the cones and tend to cause them to sag one way or the other. The spaces between the plates forming the outlet for the pulverized ore are preferably made very small so that the ore is thoroughly pulverized to a very fine degree before escaping. The halls in the run-ways 2e and 25 will also to some extent further pulverize the material as it passes from between the cones.

What I claim is 1. A pulverizer comprising oppositely arranged rotating hollow cones having opposing impact grinding faces, spacing means between the edges of said cones but outside the said grinding faces, said spacing means being adapted to properly center and movably hold the cones with respect to each other, and means for driving the cones in opposite directions, a slight space being left between the edges of the cones for the escape of the pulverized substance.

2. An ore pulverizer comprising oppo sitely arranged hollow conical members having spiral ore engaging corrugations upon their inner faces, means for driving the cones in opposite directions, the centrifugal force given to the ore causing the material to grind upon itself within the cones, runways formed upon the edges of the cones outside the corrugated surface, anti-friction balls mounted in said run-ways for movably holding the said edges of the cones with respect to each other, the balls also serving to further pulverize the material escaping from the cones, and a collecting casing arranged outside the cones and the ball run ways for receiving the pulverized ore therefrom.

3. A rotary pulverizer comprising conical members carried by hollow shafts, a framing for movably supporting the said shafts, means for introducing materials to be acted upon through one of said hollow shafts, face plates secured to the inner edges of the said cones, and having a discharge space between them, ball run-ways being formed in said facing plates and anti-friction balls mounted in said run-ways.

4. A rotary pulverizer mechanism for ores comprising hollow rotating members having enlarged peripheral edges arranged opposite each other and having small discharge grooves between them whereby only finely crushed ore can escape therefrom, means for rotating the said'casing in opposite directions with respect to each other, a pulp receiving casing rigidly mounted outside the rotating members and having an annu- In Witness that I claim the foregoing I lar discharge opening at the bottom, an anhave hereunto subscribed my name this 30th nular trough below said discharge opening day of December, 1910.

and a device carried by one of the said rotat- ALVA J. PLOWMAN. ing members for carrying the material re- Witnesses:

ceived in the said trough to a discharge OAssELL SEVERANQE,

opening provided in the bottom thereof. EARLE R. PoLLARn.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

